Sambal Prawns, Malay-style

Prep time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Level of difficulty: 2.5/5

Ingredients

a) 500g fresh medium prawns (can substitute with squid if you like) - peeled and deveined
b) 1 tomato, quartered
c) 1 teaspoon salt
d) 2 tablespoons sugar
e) 2 tablespoons tamarind juice
f) Garnishing: Chopped coriander leaves
g) 3 tablespooms oil

Chilli paste - grind items h to k in a blender / mortar till smooth
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h) 15 - 20 dried chillies, soaked in hot water to soften
i) 8 shallots or 4 red onions
j) 4 gloves garlic
k) 1 tablespoon belachan (dried shrimp paste)

Heat the oil in a wok and fry the grinded Chilli paste until fragrant about 5 mins. Add the prawns (or squids) and fry till they change colour, about 1.5 mins. Add the tamarind juice, tomato, salt, sugar and fry for another 2 mins, till the prawns (or squids) are cooked. When serving, garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

How to Choose Your Seafood

I had a request from a friend to put up tips on how to choose fish. So, here goes:

a) When buying whole fish, check that the skin is not damaged, all the scales are intact and the colour is bright and shiny. The eyes should be clear with bright black pupils. Sunken, cloudy eyes are a sure sign that the fish is unfresh. The gills should be bright red and ‘frilly’ looking. Really fresh fish is firm when pressed with your fingers.

b) When buying fillets, they should be neat, firm and have a translucent white colour.

c) When buying smoked fish, enure that it has a glossy appearance and a fresh smoky aroma.

Here's another tip in choosing seafood, other than fish:

d) Choose shellfish with tightly closed shells – discard any that have gaps or cracks.

e) When selecting crabs or lobsters, pick them up and examine them – they should feel heavy for their size and should not show signs of any damage. All fresh seafood should have a pleasant, sharp smell like seaweed or fresh cut grass. If it smells sour or overwhelmingly ‘fishy’, then don't buy them.

f) For fresh prawns, check that they have a firm head and shell, no black head, with a pleasant sea smell. The shell, should be translucent and not opaque. If you can touch the prawn, check that it is firm and not limp. Also, it should feel "slippery" and not dry due to its fresh slime coat.

Happy marketing!

Tanty's Ten Minute Chilli Mussels - serves 4-6

Prep time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Level of difficulty: 2.5/5

Ingredients

a) 2kg of green mussles, de-bearded, washed and drained in a colander
b) 1 red onion, sliced finely
c) 6 gloves of garlic, chopped finely
d) 1 can (about 300g) Prego pasta sauce - tomato, garlic and basil flavour or any other pasta sauce that you have
e) 2 whole tomatoes, cut into quarters
f) 4 red chillies, sliced
g) 4 tablespoons chilli paste
h) 4 tablespoons of chilli sauce
i) 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
j) 2 tablespoons sugar
k) 2 teaspoons salt
l) 2 tablespoons butter / vegetable oil
m) 1/2 cup water
n) Mixed herbs
o) 3 stalks spring onion, sliced into 2cm each

Heat up butter/oil in wok. Add in red onion, garlic, sliced red chillies and fry for 1-2 mins. Put in chilli paste and fry till fragrant. Add in pasta sauce, chilli sauce, tomato sauce, quartered tomatoes, water and stir for 1 min. Add in sugar, salt and a dash of mixed herbs, followed by green mussels. Stir mussels around to promote even cooking. Cook two minutes on high heat, before putting the wok cover on. Lower down the heat and continue cooking with lid on and occasionally stirring the mussels. When shells are open the mussels are ready (aboout 5 mins) – serve in large bowl and sprinkle sliced spring onions and mixed herbs.

Introduction to Basic Cooking Ingredients - to be cont'd

Garlic (Bawang Putih) - one of the most basic ingredients in almost all cuisines. It is widely used in many forms of cooking for its strong flavor, which is considered to enhance many other flavors. Depending on the form of cooking and the desired result, the flavor is either mellow or intense. It is often paired with onion, ginger, etc.

Shallots - Unlike onions where each plant normally forms a single bulb, shallots form clusters of offsets, much like garlic. When used in cooking, shallots give a more "intense" flavour than onions.

Dried red chillies - are sometimes used for the smoky flavour they give to cooked dishes. It is one of the basic ingredients to make sambal in Malay cooking.

Chinese parsley (Daun Sup) - are from the same family as Coriander. Chopped Chinese parsley are used as garnishing for soup dishes. The leaves do not keep well and should be eaten quickly, as they lose their aroma when dried or frozen.

Spring onion (Daun Bawang) - also known as Scallion or green onion in some parts of the world. It has a milder taste than other onions and are typically used in soup, noodle and sauce in eastern dishes.

Candlenutes (Buah Keras) - waxy, cream-coloured nuts that are usually grinded to add flavour and texture to various Malay and Indonesian dishes.

Coriander seeds (Ketumbar) - The dry fruits from the Coriander plant are known as coriander seeds. The seeds have a lemony citrus flavour when crushed. When grinding at home, it can be roasted or heated on a dry pan briefly to enhance the aroma before grinding it in an electric grinder or with a mortar and pestle. Ground coriander seeds lose their flavour quickly in storage and are best only ground as needed. For optimum flavour, whole coriander seed should be used within six months, or stored for no more than a year in a tightly sealed container away from sunlight and heat.

Yellow Onion - a variety of onion with a strong onion flavor and layers of papery skin, which has a yellow-brown color. It provides a rich onion taste and good choice for food dishes requiring a strong onion flavor, like French onion soup. I like to use loads of it in omelettes.

*Some information are obtained from Wikipedia.

Ketola Soup with Fishball

Ingredients

a) Ketola sliced diagonally
b) 1 carrot, sliced thinly
c) Fresh yellow-tail fishball
d) Two teaspoon dried shrimps, blended
e) 4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
f) 1 red onion, sliced
g) 2 red chillies, sliced
h) Salt as required
i) A dash of white pepper
j) 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
k) 2-3 cups water
l) Some vermicelli, soaked in water and drained when "expanded"
m) Garnishing: Chinese parsley, chopped finely

In a saucepan, heat up the oil. Add the garlic, onion, red chillies and blended dried shrimps. Fry till fragrant and add water. Put the carrots and cook till tender, before adding the fishballs. Add salt and pepper as required and once fishballs are cooked, add in the vermicelli and stir for a few seconds. The Ketola soup is now ready. When serving, sprinkle some chopped Chinese parsley (and spring onion, if you like) on top.

BBQ Sauce Chicken Wings - serves 4-6

Preparing the Chicken Wings

a) 1 kg of mid joint wings - these are just mid section of the wings without the drumsticks
b) 4 tablespoons Masterfood BBQ sauce
c) 3 tablespoons Maggi seasoning
d) 1 1/2 tablespoon honey
e) Vegetable oil

Combine BBQ sauce, Maggi seasoning and honey in a bowl. Add the chicken wings. Mix the wings with the marinade and leave aside for at least 20mins. Heat up enough oil in a frying pan and fry the marinated wings till cooked.

Fast & Easy Spaghetti Bolognaise - serves 3-4

Preparing the Spaghetti

Boil water in a saucepan. Once water starts to boil, add two tablespoons of oil and a teaspoon of salt. Stir well before putting in the spaghetti. After 8 mins, feel the spaghetti, if they are tender, drain the water and wash the spaghetti under running water. Set aside.

Preparing Bolognaise Sauce

a) 2 red onions - slice thinly / diced
b) 400g mince meat (chicken, beef, etc)
c) A couple of sausage (chicken, beef, etc) sliced diagonally - not too thin though
d) Sliced button mushrooms
e) 2 whole tomatoes, cut into wedges
f) Grated parmesan cheese
g) Half a bottle of spaghetti sauce (usually the bottle comes in 500gm) - I use brands like Raguletto, Dolmio and Leggos
h) 3-4 tablespoons of chilli sauce
i) Mixed herbs
j) 1 red capsicum, sliced (optional)

k) 1 green capsicum, sliced (optional)

l) A pinch of salt
m) Some sugar if necessary

Saute onion in hot oil until tender. Add mince meat and cook till browned. Stir in Spaghetti sauce, chilli sauce and the sliced red and green capsicums. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and sugar (if required). Add a sprinkle of mixed herbs and parmesan cheese. To serve, arrange spaghetti on plate. Place a dollop of sauce on top and sprinkle a bit of mixed herbs and cheese all around.

Good to serve with crusty garlic bread and chicken wings on the side.

Daging Balado (Beef in Chilli Sauce) - serves 6-8

Preparing the Beef

a) 1 kg beef – washed, drained and lined with meat tenderizer

b) 1 teaspoon coriander

c) 4-5 pcs of kaffir lime leaves
d) 3cm of ginger
e) Water
f) 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Blend items (a) - (d) with a little bit of water. Put the blended items and beef into a pot, add enough water to cover the beef and let it boil for about 30-40 mins till tender. Drain the beef, let it cool for a few minutes and slice it thinly into 1-2 cm square. When ready to be served, add oil to a frying pan, and fry the beef slices till brown (about 3mins) – so that outside layer is slightly “crispy”. Arrange on a plate and add Chilli Sauce (see recipe below) on top.

Preparing the Chilli Sauce

a) 4 cloves garlic
b) 3 red onions, halved
c) 1 tablespoon belachan (dried shrimp paste)
d) 2 whole tomatoes
e) 10 red chillies

f) 10 red chilli padi (bird's eye chillies)

g) 2 tablespoon sugar
h) ½ teaspoon salt
i) 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Put the oil into a frying pan. Once oil is hot, add item (a) – (f) and fry till fragrant and brown. Remove from pan and grind the items (inclusive of sugar and salt) in a mortar till it becomes a smooth paste. (Do not use a blender as the effect won’t be the same).